If you have a child in Portland Public Schools, you're probably signed up for a parent-teacher conference this week. (Even my toddler’s daycare chooses this time of year to send home evaluations telling parents whether their children are on track developmentally.)

At most Portland schools, parents have been allotted 20-minute slots. While that’s twice as long as one of my teacher friends is getting at the small private school where he works, 20 minutes still isn’t a lot of time, especially if you want to address any complicated issues. How can you make the most of that time?